Fund Service Improvements

Most legal immigrants are resigned to long lines and waiting periods for citizenship applications, green cards and other related requests.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service says it wants to improve services and cut its backlog. But it needs more money.

Legal immigrants are being asked to dig deeper into their pockets. Green card applications could increase from $220 to $330, naturalization requests from $225 to $345 and fingerprinting from $25 to $50.

This is a big increase. Immigration lawyers and advocates say it is an unfair one that will burden working-class families, especially when more than one member needs to file a request.

This may be so. But the increase in INS filing fees would be justified if they lead to better services and shorter waiting periods. The fees also are a one-time expense.

But higher INS fees are only part of the solution. Congress also needs to increase funding for INS administrative duties.

Lawmakers have pumped more money into the agency's law enforcement side, like protecting U.S. borders against illegal immigration. But Congress hasn't been willing to increase funding for administrative services or give the agency greater spending flexibility. For instance, fee money is now used to cover the cost of immigrant detentions. This money should instead be used for improving services for law-abiding immigrants.

When George W. Bush campaigned for president last year he promised to make the INS a more service-friendly place. Bush proposed an increase in funding to improve services and reduce a backlog in the processing of applications. He also proposed a six-month standard for processing most requests.

These reforms have yet to be realized.

The INS clearly needs more money to hire more administrative workers and improve its technology. Legal immigrants who pay the higher fees have a right to expect efficient service.